FAST AND LOOSE

Some bold calls in both mechanics and direction elevate a familiar arcade racer above previous monotony

NEED FOR SPEED UNBOUND 

PS5, XBOX SERIES, PC 

Before there was Forza Horizon, all festivals and physics, there was this: a fast and furious joyride with spoilers on its spoilers. Every year, it was exactly the same super- accessible arcade racer about underground tuner culture and corrupt cops. And we didn’t care that it was as formulaic. Until one day, finally, we did.

Need for Speed grew too big and too popular to sustain itself. The sales were too good for EA to start tinkering with the formula, but the yearly release schedule eventually oversaturated us with beemers in widebody kits and stories of betrayal told exclusively through the medium of checkpoint races.

The world that Need for Speed Unbound emerges into, then, has changed. 2019’s NFS Heat was the most convincing attempt at reinvention, but it couldn’t nudge Forza Horizon off its mighty throne. Need for Speed Unbound needs to be something totally distinct to succeed in the genre.

Enter the new visual style. This is an old franchise stepping out, hoping to find traction with the TikTok generation. The anime-inspired smoke plumes and metaverse-ready avatars in Unbound are a real statement of intent for such an established series.

Whenever you drift around a corner and light up your tires, a cartoon smoke cloud appears. Painterly neon lines whiz around in circles beside your tires during a burnout. Your car will literally sprout a pair of graffiti wings when you catch a ramp and get some air. This from a game that’s been telling the same story about double-crossing street racers and psychopathic law enforcement for two decades now.